{"id":202038,"date":"2024-08-19T14:33:31","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T00:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=202038"},"modified":"2024-08-19T17:33:21","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T03:33:21","slug":"uh-hilo-professor-awarded-1-3m-grant-for-flowering-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/08\/19\/uh-hilo-professor-awarded-1-3m-grant-for-flowering-research\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> Hilo professor awarded $1.3M grant for flowering plants research in Hawai\u02bbi"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"knope
Matthew Knope, associate professor of biology at UH<\/abbr> Hilo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A team of researchers led by a biology professor at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Hilo<\/a> was recently awarded $1.3 million by the National Science Foundation (NSF<\/abbr>) to study genetic changes underlying adaptive evolution in flowering plants in Â鶹´«Ã½,<\/span> specifically genus Bidens<\/em> from Â鶹´«Ã½,<\/span> a Hawaiian flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae.<\/p>\n

\"Koʻokoʻolau
Koʻokoʻolau<\/span> are a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Matthew Knope, associate professor of biology at UH<\/abbr> Hilo, is the lead principal investigator of “Evolutionary and functional genomics of Hawaiian Bidens<\/em>: determining the genetic basis of phenotypic trait diversification in a rapid adaptive radiation.” The other principal investigators are Daniel Jones of Auburn University and Christopher Muir of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.<\/p>\n

Their research combines genomics, developmental biology, ecology and physiology to understand how new traits evolve in a rapidly diversifying endemic lineage of flowering plants—koʻokoʻolau<\/span> (genus Bidens<\/em>).<\/p>\n

The project will generate new genome assemblies and identify the genetic and developmental changes responsible for leaf, fruits, seed and flower trait evolution. The scientists expect to gain insights to the genetic changes responsible for rapid evolutionary diversification in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and beyond.<\/p>\n

\"a
Bidens<\/em> hillebrandiana covering the upper part of sea stack, Mokoloaka on Maui. (Photo Credit: Forest and Kim Starr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This project will offer inter-disciplinary evolutionary training to undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers, and underrepresented groups, preparing them to contribute to scientific research, education and technological advancements.<\/p>\n

“This collaborative research is only made possible by combining the complementary expertise of the three labs involved and the generous support of the National Science Foundation,” said Knope. “It is a great honor to get to work on understanding how our native Hawaiian flora has evolved to be what it is today and to help conserve it into the future.”<\/p>\n

The project received a total award of $1,334,718 from the NSF<\/abbr> Division of Environmental Biology Core Program on Systematics and Biodiversity Science, and begins in January 2025.<\/p>\n

—By Susan Enright<\/p>\n

Read more at Â鶹´«Ã½Hilo Stories<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Close
Koʻokoʻolau<\/span> found in Waikapū, Maui.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew Knope, lead principal investigator, is working to uncover the genetic changes responsible for rapid evolutionary diversification in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and beyond. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[254,368,731,14],"class_list":["post-202038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-biology","tag-botany","tag-plants","tag-uh-hilo","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t